Explosion hits Israeli Defense Ministry garage in Tel Aviv

By Mohamed Hamed

JERUSALEM (AA) – An explosion occurred inside a garage in the Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv on Sunday, according to Israeli media.

The explosion was caused by a makeshift weapon hurled by an Israeli soldier at the ministry’s parking lot, Israel Hayom newspaper said.

No injuries were reported.

The soldier was arrested by Israeli police.

According to the newspaper, the soldier, 48, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has previously been accused of engaging in severe violent incidents against staff in the rehabilitation department, including making threats to kill workers.

The incident came amid growing pressures on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to negotiate a hostage swap deal with Hamas.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding nearly 130 hostages, demands an end to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip in return for any hostage exchange deal with Tel Aviv.

More than 36,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip nearly eight months ago following a Hamas attack. The majority of those killed have been women and children, with over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi